CARES ACT (HEERF)-09-30-2020

CARES ACT

Catawba Valley Community College’s Report on Funds Received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to Provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students and Institutional Costs Related to the Pandemic
(updated September 30, 2020)

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed by the United States Congress March 27, 2020, set up the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) to benefit students and colleges and universities all of whom have been hit with expenses related to the coronavirus pandemic. Allocations were made to colleges and universities based on the size of the student body. Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) was allocated a total of $2,557,958.

Under the federal legislation, at least half of each college/university allocation must be used to provide students with needs with emergency financial aid to help with expenses related to the disruption of pursuing an education due to the coronavirus. The remaining funds may be allocated to help the college pay for the unanticipated costs of changing instructional delivery due to the coronavirus. That means that at least $1,278,979 will go to students who have experienced extraordinary needs related to the pandemic and a maximum of $1,278,979 will help with expenses CVCC incurs to meet the drastic changes institution-wide in instructional delivery.

In order to be transparent to the public, CVCC will be making regular reports here about expenditures of these funds. Check back for up to date information.

CVCC is required to provide regular reporting to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) on the use of funds authorized by the CARES Act. The information noted below is intended to not only meet the reporting requirements of the CARES Act but also provide information to our community regarding CVCC’s use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds.

Section 18004(e) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act” or the “Act”), Pub. L. No. 116-136, 134 Stat. 281 (March 27, 2020), directs institutions receiving funds under Section 18004 of the Act to submit (in a time and manner required by the Secretary) a report to the Secretary describing the use of funds distributed from the HEERF. Section 18004(c) of the CARES Act requires institutions to use no less than 50 percent of the funds received from Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus (including eligible expenses under a student’s cost of attendance such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and childcare). On April 9, 2020, the ED published documents related to the Emergency Financial Aid Grants, including a letter from Secretary Betsy DeVos, a form Certification and Agreement for signing and returning by institutions to access the funds, and a list of institutional allocations under 18004(a)(1).

The Certification and Agreement directs each institution applying for HEERF funds to comply with Section 18004(e) of the CARES Act and submit an initial report (the “30-day Fund Report”) to the Secretary thirty (30) days from the date of the institution’s Certification and Agreement to ED. Each HEERF participating institution must post the information listed below on the institution’s primary website. The following information must appear in a format and location that is easily accessible to the public 30 days after the date when the institution received its allocation under 18004(a)(1) and updated every 45 days thereafter.

An acknowledgement that the institution signed and returned to the Department the Certification and Agreement and the assurance that the institution has used, or intends to use, no less than 50 percent of the funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students and for Institutional Costs.

CVCC signed and submitted the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Certification and Agreement for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on April 24, 2020. The Certification and Agreement for the Institutional funds was signed and submitted April 29, 2020. The ED provided CVCC with an electronically signed Grant Award Notifications (GAN) on May 2, 2020 for the student financial aid funds and May 8, 2020 for the Institutional funds.

The total amount of funds that the institution will receive or has received from the Department pursuant to the institution’s Certification and Agreement [for] Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.

CVCC will receive $1,278,979 for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students and $1,278,979 for Institutional Costs related to the response to the pandemic.

The total amount of Emergency Financial Aid Grants distributed to students and utilized for Institutional costs under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act as of the date of submission (i.e., as of the 30-day Report and every 45 days thereafter).

Emergency Student Financial Aid: $1,137.640 was distributed to students.

Institutional Costs Related to the Pandemic: $781,688.74 has been spent to date to purchase personal protective equipment, plexiglass social barriers, thermometers, COVID information banners, hotspots, computers, wi-fi access points and video cameras to help record instructional videos, thermal temperature scanners and operators and supplies and equipment to help the transition to virtual classrooms for fall semester.

The estimated total number of students at the institution eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and thus eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

878 Title IV Eligible CVCC Students

The total number of students who have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

878 students have received an Emergency Financial Aid Grant

The method(s) used by the institution to determine which students receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants and how much they would receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.

CVCC created a list of eligible students. The qualifications are:

Students who filed the 2019-20 FAFSA (automatically eliminates Career & College Promise and special credit).
Of those students who filed the 2019-20 FAFSA, students had to be eligible to receive Pell funds (US Citizen or permanent resident, Social Security number in Colleague, met the Selective Service requirement if male, program was not classified as an on-line program or a certificate not eligible for Pell funds).
Of those students in #2, the students who actually received Pell funds.
Of the students in #3, those who were enrolled for Spring 2020 in either seated face-to- face or hybrid classes on March 13, 2020 (the day of the national emergency declaration).
There are 878 students who fit the requirements #1-4.
Students are awarded the amount of their tuition for the hours that were transitioned to on-line plus a grant award based on the number of credit hours that were transitioned to online.

The letter that was sent to eligible students is included as Exhibit 1.

The table below shows the itemized grant awards.

Number of Students	Number of Credit Hours	Grant Reimbursed Tuition	Additional Grant Award	Grant Amount per student	Total Grant Amount per Category
17	1	76	600	$676	$11492
15	2	152	600	$752	$11280
136	3	228	600	$828	$112608
93	4	304	700	$1004	$93372
72	5	380	700	$1080	$77760
107	6	456	700	$1156	$123692
83	7	532	800	$1332	$110556
68	8	608	800	$1408	$95744
69	9	684	800	$1484	$102396
65	10	760	900	$1660	$107900
41	11	836	900	$1736	$71176
50	12	912	900	$1812	$90600
27	13	988	1000	$1988	$53676
9	14	1064	1000	$2064	$18576
13	15	1140	1000	$2140	$27820
12	16+	1216	1200	$2416	$28992
878 Total					$1137640 Total

CVCC was awarded $1,278,979 for Emergency Student Financial Aid under the CARES Act. The spreadsheet above shows a total of $1,137,640 awarded. This leaves $141,339 remaining for contingency if other students are determined to be eligible. Remaining funds will be distributed within one year.

CARES Grant HEERF - Institutional Portion
Federal Allocation: $1,278,979

Institutional Costs Related to the Pandemic: $781,688.74 has been spent as of 9/30/20 to date to purchase personal protective equipment, plexiglass social barriers, thermometers, COVID information banners, hotspots, computers, wi-fi access points and video cameras to help record instructional videos, thermal temperature scanners and operators and supplies and equipment to help the transition to virtual classrooms for fall semester. Click here for the detailed report of expenditures ending 9/30/20 as required by the U.S. Department of Education.

CARES Grant- Strengthening Institutions Program
Federal Allocation: $125,398
Under the CARES Act HEERF, an additional $125,398 was allocated to CVCC under the HEERF Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) as provided in Section 18004(a)(2) of the CARES Act. CVCC signed and submitted the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Certification and Agreement for an Award under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on May 4, 2020. The ED provided CVCC with an electronically signed Grant Award Notifications (GAN) on May 29, 2020 for the Strengthening Institutions Program funds. These funds may be spent for grants to students or for institutional expenses related to the pandemic.

CVCC has expended $0 of these funds as of September 30, 2020.

Exhibit 1

Dear CVCC Red Hawk,

You are eligible to receive a one-time student aid grant from Catawba Valley Community College through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF).

CVCC will begin distributing the student aid portion of the HEERF in its entirety ($1,278,979.00 in aggregate) to all 878 eligible students on or before May 21, 2020. These grant funds will be direct payments to you for financial hardship expenses (such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care) related to the disruption of on-campus operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds do not impact your current financial aid awards or any financial aid awarded to you in the future.

You are not required to take any action to receive these grants. You will receive this grant through the option that you chose previously to receive any financial aid awards.

CVCC is grateful to our partners at the U.S. Department of Education for making these grants available to you. HEERF, which was authorized by Congress as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, was signed by the President into law on March 27, 2020. The CARES Act created two separate formula-based grants for colleges and universities: one portion for the direct aid to students and the other focused on supporting institutional costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional details on both programs can be found in Section 18004(a)(1) and 18004(c) of the CARES Act.

Student eligibility for the CARES Act HEERF-student aid funding was determined by Catawba Valley Community College based on guidance from the U.S. Department of Education's CARES HEERF Certification and Agreement, HEERF Student FAQs, Section 18004(a)(1) and 18004(c) of the CARES Act, and Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HES) of 1965, as amended. The maximum grant amount is based on the average dollar amount of expenses (such as food, housing, course materials, technology, health care and childcare) associated with the disruption of on-campus operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Student eligibility for the CARES Act student aid funding was determined by the following:

2019-20 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) submitted and eligibility for financial aid approved and Pell financial aid funding previously awarded
Membership in eligible program that was not classified as totally on-line
Membership in fully seated face-to-face or hybrid classes that were ungraded on March 12, 2020 (the date of the national emergency declaration)

In addition to the financial support provided by the CARES Act, CVCC took several steps to help students during the pandemic.

Students were provided updates on the CVCC web site in a section titled "Coronavirus Preparations & Updates" and students could call the CVCC-COVID 19 Hotline or email the CVCC-COVID 19 Virtual Hotline with questions and requests.
Technology in the form of laptops, tablets, hot spots, and software was provided to many students upon request.
Faculty began to contact students during the week of March 16, 2020, to provide additional support to complete classes.
Beginning on March 8, all 2976 curriculum students (except CCP students who had other communication) were called beginning on March 8 to check on how they were doing; we were able to connect with 71% of students. Email was sent to those students who we were unable to contact by phone.
A grade of WE (Withdraw Emergency) was implemented to allow students who could not complete coursework due to the campus disruption caused by COVID-19 to withdraw through the last day of the semester with no academic or financial aid penalty.
A grade of IE (Incomplete Emergency) was implemented to allow students additional time to complete hands-on lab classes.
A Portal announcement was posted on April 27, 2020, to inform students about withdrawal opportunities.

Catawba Valley Community College is committed to assisting you now and in the future. More information will be provided as additional funding becomes available in the future.

Please let us know if you have additional questions by contacting the CVCC COVID-19 Hotline available on the CVCC website.

Carolyn D. Brandon
Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid